"He called from Kuwait and said, 'We've moved,'" says Court, a Saline resident whose son, Jared Isbell, is a member of the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

The next piece of information was the important one: "I'm safe."

More followed, including an attempt to disguise a date in chatter about an aunt's birthday.

Servicemen and women in combat zones aren't supposed to say anything about where they are, explains Court. "When I talked to the people at Fort Drum later, they said all that probably wasn't necessary once he had left Iraq."

Of course, no one's complaining about a little extra caution.

Pfc. Isbell isn't yet 22.

He was deployed for 14 months. He was wounded, recovered and returned to his post.

He's back at Fort Drum now. But with a good 10 months left before his enlistment is up, he could be deployed again.

"That's not what I wanted to hear," says Court, who raised her son alone.

Still, it's possible.

It's also possible that Isbell will re-enlist.

"It's that or get out and go to school," his mom says, perhaps less optimistic about the latter than she was when we had talked last summer.

For now, she says, he's focused on the work at hand.

That leaves Court to do the same. And her job - in addition to the day job at book manufacturer Thomson-Shore that pays the bills - is worrying about her son.

"They're affected by what they've seen," she says of the men and women who've witnessed the violence in Iraq. "They've seen things no one should ever have to. I pray for Jared to have the strength to get past it and deal with it properly."

Court saw her son at a homecoming celebration at the division's northern New York State base. And he surprised her with a visit home just before Christmas.

"He's tender-hearted," she says.

Another part of Court's job is not letting her son see all the worry. And she does what she can to manage it.

"We're still working on military outreach," she says. A group gets together for a monthly breakfast at the American Legion in Saline and swaps e-mail between gatherings.

"I go and work at the Vietnam veterans 'packing parties,'" she says. "But the big thing is support for people with loved ones who are deployed. You just want a place where you can get a hug, and talk and find out what you need to know."

"We've gotten a lot of support," Court says. For example, a friend recently recommended the book "Down Range to Iraq and Back."

It's a self-help by a post-traumatic stress disorder specialist. And, in its own way, it's code, too. Just like seeing "things no one should ever have to."

May all messages begin with "I'm safe."

No obfuscation needed.

Another update

When I first wrote about Court and Isbell back in July, I also relayed news of Ann Arbor native Jim Minick, a career Marine also then serving in Iraq.

Well, Lt. Col. Minick is now home from his second deployment.

"We're thrilled," write his parents, Polly and former Washtenaw County Sheriff Tom Minick from Naples, Fla. "We wish the same for all families of troops, that their homecoming will be soon."

Judy McGovern can be reached at 734-994-6863 or jmcgovern@annarbornews.com.
Published 1/6/2008